When we arrived, I thought the hotel looked old fashioned and a bit grim. Our room was fine; comfortable beds and everything we needed was provided. We had booked a weekend special which included dinner, but this seemed to only include the main course. Although, to be fair, the main course was huge and I doubt if we could have squeezed in a dessert. On our second night, we only had starters; these were larger than some main courses in other hotels.
The staff were extremely helpful and pleasant, apart from one of the receptionists who gave off about 'our' son running around; it wasn't our son at all, but she declined to apologise. This did leave us with a rather bad feeling on check out.
On the downside, there's not much to do in Abbeyleix.

Our room was nice and clean, and check in was easy. Our dinner, however, was pretty terrible, as was the bar service. They didn't have any cider (Strongbow, Bulmer's) available, nor did they know how to make a martini! Very strange for a bar. We stuck to the continental breakfast the next day.

Lesson learned- If a restaurant claims to be "the best in the Midlands", don't believe them!

Got a great deal online - €45 per night - so wasn't expecting much but was really pleasantly surprised. Super friendly check in, nice atmosphere in the lounges and bar and a good sized room that was spotlessly clean. I've spent a LOT more on a LOT worse. Great value.

Got married in the manor sept 2008,120 guests with about half of them staying in hotel down from donegal ,great venue,good rates for bedrooms,staff very friendly,alot of the wedding guests stayed on for a 2nd and 3rd night....that was my second stay, and will be back very soon.....